Russell Boxley

Their body language--heads down, shoulders slumped--signaled how hard the firemen had been hit by the tragedy they found in a South-Central Los Angeles home gutted by flames. Two-year-old twins had been trapped in the house when a lighted match ignited bedding and curtains. Their father had tried hard to save them, falling unconscious in the back yard of smoke inhalation.

Their body language--heads down, shoulders slumped--signaled how hard the firemen had been hit by the tragedy they found in a South-Central Los Angeles home gutted by flames. Two-year-old twins had been trapped in the house when a lighted match ignited bedding and curtains. Their father had tried hard to save them, falling unconscious in the back yard of smoke inhalation.

A veteran Los Angeles fireman accused of intentionally appearing nude in front of a woman firefighter was excused early from a Fire Department Board of Rights hearing Wednesday to seek stress counseling recommended by a departmental psychologist. Capt.

A veteran Los Angeles fireman accused of intentionally appearing nude in front of a woman firefighter was excused early from a Fire Department Board of Rights hearing Wednesday to seek stress counseling recommended by a departmental psychologist. Capt. John Squire, who represents Anthony Morales, 33, a seven-year veteran, told the three-member board that a psychologist who had observed the firefighter from the audience during the hearing had warned that Morales could "crack up."

Los Angeles firefighters and paramedics who experience exceptional emotional turmoil because of the wrenching incidents encountered in their jobs will soon have somewhere to seek relief from the stress they feel. The city Fire Department will implement its new Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Program on Tuesday. Its aim is to help emergency personnel cope by identifying typical reactions to stress and defusing them through debriefing.

Embers were still glowing on the hillsides above Porter Ranch when residents decided that the best way to put the devastating fire behind them would be to blanket the charred slopes with wildflowers. "We were standing in the middle of the street looking at the hills, and the idea just came out of our need to do something," said Mary Edwards, one of the organizers of the effort. "It hurt so much to see everything all burned."

Embers were still glowing on the hillsides above Porter Ranch when residents decided the best way to put the devastating fire behind them would be to blanket the charred slopes with wildflowers. "We were standing in the middle of the street looking at the hills and the idea just came out of our need to do something," said Mary Edwards, one of the effort's organizers. "It hurt so much to see everything all burned." On Dec.